Hawaii's Supreme Court cites 'The Wire' in ruling bashing firearm access: 'The thing about the old days, they the old days'

• Hawaii's Supreme Court ruled there's no "state constitutional right to carry a firearm in public."
• The court's opinion said the US Supreme Court's 2022 concealed carry ruling "unravels durable law."

The Hawaii Supreme Court quoted the influential television series, "The Wire," in a ruling on Wednesday bashing gun ownership.

Hawaii's highest court recently ruled that it's legally permissible to charge a man in the state who was found to be in possession of an unregistered firearm without a required permit in late 2017.

As a defense, Christopher Wilson and his attorneys cited a 2022 US Supreme Court case ruling, "New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen" regarding the legality of requiring people to show a "special need" to receive a concealed carry license.

Their argument worked, though only temporarily. Hawaii's Second Circuit Court agreed with Wilson's legal team, but Hawaii appealed the decision to its supreme court.

On Wednesday, in an opinion written by Justice Todd Eddins, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled the 2022 Bruen case "unravels durable law" and "in Hawaiʻi there is no state constitutional right to carry a firearm in public."

Eddins added that the test created in the US Supreme Court's 2022 ruling to determine the constitutionality of gun laws based on whether it's "consistent with this Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation" should be discarded altogether.

To illustrate his point, he cited a quote from a season four episode of HBO's "The Wire."

"As the world turns, it makes no sense for contemporary society to pledge allegiance to the founding era's culture, realities, laws, and understanding of the Constitution," the ruling reads, then quoting "The Wire" character Slim Charles: "'The thing about the old days, they the old days.'"

The creator of the highly acclaimed show, David Simon, highlighted the Hawaii Supreme Court's homage to his work in a post on X Thursday morning.

"Slim Charles was a sagacious motherfucker."